Chapter 6 - THE TRAITOR’S MASKRonan pulled a hidden pistol from beneath the nightstand, instantly stepping in front of Tessa.
"Brendan! Who breached the perimeter?" Ronan barked, moving to help his security chief.
Brendan raised his head, a dark, sinister grin spreading across his face. He wiped the fake blood from his stomach, standing up perfectly straight.
"Nobody breached the perimeter, Ronan," Brendan said, his voice dropping its loyal, subservient tone, replaced by cold, calculating malice. "Because I let them in."
Behind Brendan, six heavily armed men clad in tactical gear stepped into the master bedroom, their automatic weapons trained directly on Ronan and Tessa.
Ronan’s eyes narrowed into slits of deadly ice. "Brendan. Four years... you were my right hand."
"And for four years, I watched you run this empire like a coward!" Brendan spat. "You refused to expand into narcotics! You refused to take over the West Coast ports! You sat in this luxury mansion, eating your quiet meals, while millions of dollars bypassed us! Vance was ambitious, but he was an idiot. He thought he could outsmart you. I used Vance to test your defenses."
Brendan stepped into the room, pulling a silencer from his jacket and threading it onto his weapon.
"I knew the moment Vance kidnapped the girl, you’d leave the compound unprotected. And when Vance failed to kill you at the pier, I knew I had to finish the job myself. Once you and the last Moretti heir are dead, I take control of the Gallagher syndicate. It's clean. A tragedy. The grieving boss dying alongside his secret lover."
Tessa’s hand crept into Ronan’s left hand, her fingers trembling, but her grip surprisingly firm. Ronan squeezed her hand back, his mind racing, evaluating every angle of the room.
"You made one mistake, Brendan," Ronan said quietly.
"Oh yeah? What’s that?" Brendan sneered, raising his gun toward Ronan’s forehead.
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"You forgot who kept this house running."
Tessa suddenly stomped her heel down onto the hidden floorboard trigger beneath the rug near the bed—a security feature she had secretly installed two years ago while renovating the master suite floors.
